The Yankees officially announced that Giancarlo Stanton gained’t be obtainable for the beginning of the season, because the slugger will probably be positioned on the injured listing attributable to his recurring elbow points. The 2017 NL MVP Stanton obtained PRP injections in each elbows, and is anticipated to return to the crew’s spring camp later this week after coping with an unspecified private matter in New York.
The announcement doesn’t come as any shock, as Stanton hasn’t swung a bat in 5 – 6 weeks due to continued soreness in his elbows. Two weeks in the past, Stanton and supervisor Aaron Boone described the issue as much like tennis elbow, with Stanton noting that some tendon harm had taken place. Whereas surgical procedure wasn’t being thought-about, surgical procedure would naturally develop into an choice (or inevitable) within the occasion of an precise tendon tear, which is why Stanton mentioned he and the crew had been being cautious of their method to the accidents.
No timetable was introduced for Stanton’s restoration, however most likely the top of April would symbolize a best-case state of affairs for the five-time All-Star to make his 2025 debut. A while will probably be wanted to judge Stanton’s elbows within the aftermath of the PRP therapy, and if all is nicely, he’d then want to begin his ordinary ramp-up proceedings after lacking a lot of each spring coaching and even his pre-camp offseason work. Given Stanton’s lengthy historical past of leg-related accidents, he’ll want some prep time past simply hitting work, even when he’s going to be a DH-only participant this season.
Accidents have lengthy hampered Stanton’s profession, and saved from totally delivering on the whopping 13-year, $325M contract he signed with the Marlins again in November 2014. There may be nonetheless $96M owed to Stanton within the remaining three assured years of that deal, counting the $10M, although the Yankees are solely liable for overlaying $66M of that determine as per the phrases of the commerce that introduced Stanton from Miami to New York in December 2017.
Stanton has been fairly productive (.241/.323/.483 with 162 residence runs in 2,776 plate appearances) throughout his time within the pinstripes, and has can nonetheless appeared like certainly one of baseball’s most harmful hitters every now and then. Nevertheless, these red-hot streaks have been countered by each prolonged slumps, and several other instances when Stanton has merely been unable to play attributable to damage.
The 2024 season noticed Stanton miss about 5 weeks attributable to a hamstring pressure, although he bounced again fairly nicely from a down 12 months in 2023. Stanton hit .233/.298/.475 with 27 residence runs in 459 PA final season, which translated to a 116 wRC+ even when low common and on-base numbers proceed to be a priority. The slugger then elevated his sport in October, hitting .273/.339/.709 with seven homers over 62 PA throughout New York’s playoff run, and he captured ALCS MVP honors for his enormous efficiency within the Yankees’ five-game elimination of the Guardians.
Following up that nice postseason with yet one more important damage is undoubtedly an enormous frustration for Stanton as he enters his sixteenth MLB marketing campaign (and his age-35 season). The truth that these elbow issues are a wholly new damage for Stanton might be seen in certainly one of two methods — both as a constructive that he isn’t once more coping with leg issues, or as a detrimental that Stanton is now coping with elbow points on prime of the ever-present concern over his decrease physique.
With Stanton out, the Yankees may simply decide to fill the designated hitter spot with a rotation of gamers, with a view to unfold round at-bats and partial relaxation days for different veterans like Aaron Decide, Paul Goldschmidt or DJ LeMahieu. By way of general roster building, Ben Rice now appears to have a greater likelihood of constructing the Opening Day roster, and selecting up some DH at-bats himself.
An exterior addition can also’t be dominated out, if Stanton is going through an prolonged period of time on the IL. Stories have already indicated the Yankees have been in touch with J.D. Martinez, maybe laying some groundwork for a future contract in case Stanton isn’t making a lot progress in a few weeks’ time. Including a outstanding veteran like Martinez, nevertheless, would additionally threaten to push the Yankees’ even additional excessive luxury-tax tire — RosterResource initiatives New York’s tax quantity at roughly $305.1M, and past the higher penalty threshold of $301M.
